Saturday, February 19, 2000
Suspect's claims of incompetency disputed
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — A man accused in a killing who claims, through his attorneys, to be incompetent to stand trial is actually a smart man and a good artist who's pretending to be psychotic, a state psychiatrist says.
Jeffrey Gabbard rocked back and forth in his chair and stared straight ahead in court Friday while the prosecution's forensic expert described his claims that officials were conspiring against him and watching him through a hidden camera in his cell.
Dr. Candace Walker said she initially thought Mr. Gabbard might be schizophrenic because he said little and made little eye contact with her. But she changed her mind after he claimed the maximum dosage of an anti-psychotic drug made no difference and after she saw the artwork in his cell. She called it professional-quality and said schizophrenics' drawings are not usually so well done.
Another clue, she said, was Mr. Gabbard's comment about one of the psychiatric workers who tested him — the man had empathy, he told her.
“I've never had a schizophrenic know what empathy is,” Ms. Walker said.
The testimony continues Wednesday.After it ends, Kenton Circuit Judge Steven Jaeger will decide whether Mr. Gabbard, 30, is mentally competent to stand trial.
Mr. Gabbard is accused of the October 1998 killing of Jennifer Harber, 17, of Fort Thomas. She was killed, police said, after she refused to give him her car. Trial is set for April.
A psychiatrist working for Mr. Gabbard's lawyers diagnosed him as being delusional. And one of his attorneys suggested Friday that Mr. Gabbard told untruths during psychiatric testing in refusal to cooperate with the process.
Mr. Gabbard, a convicted burglar and drug seller, was released from an Ohio prison after serving less than five years of his 6- to 30-year sentence. Miss Harber was killed less than a month later.
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